they were calling out to me
by thelumpiestlumpinthewest
Summary: Nico wears Percy's clothes, sometimes. AU. Percy/Nico.


Nico wears Percy's clothes, sometimes.

When Percy's left for work, Nico pulls out his old brown combat boots from the closet. He slides into them, but, of course, they're too big. Still, he laces them tight around his shins, and trudges outside, smiling at the ground as he begins his daily walk down the sidewalk.

All the street vendors and performers say hello to him. Nico waves at them shyly and continues walking. He thinks that Percy might be embarrassed, because he wears his boots everyday. But what Percy doesn't know won't hurt him, so Nico keeps going, strolling with the smallest of smiles.

* * *

Nico finds Percy's old Camp Half-Blood shirt. He traces the sharp letters with his fingertip and feels along the Pegasus silhouette. He presses the orange fabric to his cheek and smiles secretly into the past.

Nico pulls the shirt from its hanger and slips it over his head. He hugs himself like he's hugging Percy. Then, he feels around in Percy's sock drawer for the clay bead necklace. When he finds it, he puts that on, too.

He goes the opposite direction this time and walks and waves until he finds Annabeth's apartment building. He stares up at the brick until he makes up his mind and walks in.

When he knocks on their door, Reyna answers. Her hair is a dark fishtail on her shoulder (probably done by Piper) and she's wearing faded jeans and a purple t-shirt. She looks just like she always does, of course.

"Nico? What a...yes. Come in." Reyna opens the door wider, enough for Nico to step inside. She gestures at his too-big shirt. "You should have Piper wash that for you. She always manages to shrink everything."

Reyna leads him to the living room, which is an open area with two comfortable-looking couches and large windows. It branches out to the kitchen, where Piper is dancing around with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. She's wearing her hair in a braid, too. She giggles when she sees him.

"Hey, Nico! What brings you around?" Piper steps down from the small stoop between the living room and the kitchen. She leans against the couch in front of him. She also notices his shirt. Her smile falls. "Oh. You're...here to see Annabeth. Reyna…"

Piper has an almost sad look in her eyes. Reyna nods to her and goes to fetch Annabeth from her room. Nico feels like an intruder into such a sacred trinity as Piper, Reyna, and Annabeth.

"It wasn't her fault, you know," Piper says quietly. Nico bites his lip.

"I know."

"It still looks good after all this time."

Nico rubbed the hem of Percy's shirt between his thumb and forefinger.

"Yeah."

* * *

_The fish circle him and the sharks nod their greetings. Percy smiles at them all._

_ "How's your day been?" he asks Benji, the turtle, at the bottom of the tank. Benji replies with a slow, monotone _fine _and then Razor, a little shark, swims up beside him._

_ "How's your Annabeth, Percy?" Razor goes back and forth and doesn't stop swimming. He's a shark, of course, he can't stop. _

_At the mention of Annabeth, Percy goes pale and his smile drops. The water seems to get colder and the all the animals' smiles seem to drop along with Percy's mood._

_ "She's...fine," Percy answers quietly. His skin feels like its burning, and so the temperature drops another few degrees._

_A bit later, Percy glances towards glass window of the tank and see a blonde girl standing there, dressed in an orange camp shirt and a baseball cap. She smiles weakly and waves and Percy tries his best to return both gestures. The fish around him tense up and start to swim faster, anxiously. The girl walks towards the _Staff Only_ door and goes through. Percy sees her blurry shape through the water as she stands above the tank._

_He swims to the top and pulls himself out._

_ "Percy." Annabeth lets out a sad sigh. "Percy. Percy." She says his name like it's becoming heavy and foreign on her tongue. Her spectacular gray eyes are misty._

_ "Annie-"_

_Annabeth puts a gentle hand against his chest._

_ "I know. I know all about it, Percy," she whispers, and he feels his own eyes start sting. "Sally told me. She told me there was nothing I could do, but I wanted to try. And...and now I know that I'm not right for you."_

_She looks away sadly, but Percy grabs her hand._

_ "Annabeth, _please-"

_Their eyes meet and a lethargic little smile touches her lips. She takes her hand back and runs her fingertips along his arms. _

_ "Percy, it's okay. Daughter of Athena, goddess of wisdom here. I know things like this. I know that you need someone else"-her face looks pained for a moment-"and not me. It's natural for people like us to feel this way."_

_ "No. No, it's not. You don't feel like this. Half-bloods are supposed to make peace with their godly parent. Luke didn't and look where that got him." Percy regrets saying that last part, especially since Annabeth looks so hurt, but he doesn't take it back, because it's true._

_Annabeth composes herself as well as she can. She stands on her tiptoes and kisses his forehead. _

_ "Goodbye, Percy."_

_When she's gone, he stares at the door and whispers,_

_ "Please don't leave."_

_A lifetimes later, Percy stops by Nico's little apartment in the lower east side. He pays for it himself, even though his father has more than enough to spare. Nico just wants to free from it all, honestly._

_Percy knocks on the door and Hazel, Nico's little sister, answers. She's wearing a paint-spattered bandana over her frizzy caramel hair and overalls, which are also covered in paint. She smiles at him._

_ "Percy! I didn't know you were coming," she says cheerily, and lets him in._

_Nico's standing in the living room, smiling at the drying wall. It's a painting of the city, with solid black buildings and a red sky. It's beautiful._

_ "Percy's here, Nico," Hazel says. Nico turns around and sees Percy, a smile on his face, but a knowing look in his eyes._

_ "Hey." Nico takes a step forward. "Hazel, can you give us a minute?"_

_Hazel looks between the two, confused, but does, eventually, go into her room. _

_Nico crosses the remaining space between them, and Percy hugs him tight, bone-crushingly tight. Nico doesn't complain. How could he? This is _Percy.

_It's sudden, really, when Percy kisses him. It's a sudden unearthing of a sudden love that just makes everything change so suddenly. But Nico doesn't mind; and neither does Percy. The only thing that stands in their way is Percy's problem and Annabeth's feelings, of course. Although she'd probably encourage this. She was probably the one that sparked this in him._

_It's sudden and all Nico can think about is Percy's nice boots._

* * *

Nico wears the shirt Percy used to wear to clubs and parties.

The one that Annabeth loved on him and so did every other girl. Nico takes it out from its spot in the back of Percy's closet and puts it on, the scooped neck exposing his pale skin and collarbone. He puts on his hat and his aviators jacket, then laces up Percy's old boots. He takes the camp shirt, too, and puts that in his backpack. He also puts the little necklace with the clay beads in his backpack, as well.

_I was lonely._

Nico heads a completely different direction this time.

_I was lonely._

He goes forward.

* * *

**Inspired by _I Stole You Boots _by _Chelsea Williams_. **


End file.
